People with disabilities are frontline warriors in Aamir Khan's movement to fight water crisis

It’s a first-of-its kind initiative in India that has brought together
people in 4,000 villages across Maharashtra this year. A program
where different villagers are being equipped with technical skills and
leadership abilities to tackle the issue of drought in their villages.

We are talking about Paani Foundation, the NGO started by
actor Aamir Khan to find a solution to the drought crisis in
Maharashtra. The training is imparted through teams at the taluka levels, as
well as films, manuals, and even an Android app.

A movement that started with three talukas in 2016 and grew into a water
revolution involving 75 talukas this year, as Khan points out on the website.

Large parts of Maharashtra are afflicted every year with drought, badly
affecting thousands of villages and crippling every aspect of social life.
We found that wherever the issue has been solved in villages…the solution
lay in people’s collective efforts and labour. So, Paani Foundation was
conceived to work with people across the spectrum..- Aamir Khan,
Co-founder, Paani Foundation

Mobilising people

And what a spectrum it truly is, bringing together people across castes and
religions. Not a small achievement given the deep social divisions that exist
in India’s villages.

Even more special is that the water management initiative is truly
inclusive. People, both with and without disabilities, are a
part of the training programmes conducted on the technical aspects of
watershed management and conservation.

A recent video released by the Paani Foundation pays tribute to these water
warriors who have shown the way to the rest of the villages. People like
Sunita Gaikwad and Ankush Kale, who are
physically disabled, but did not hesitate to be a part of all the digging,
cleaning and widening.

An involvement that Social Media Head Svati Chaktravarthy
Bhatkal says happened quite organically.

Our training focused strongly on the critical importance of why a divided
village has to come together if we have to fight drought and harvest water.
What happened was that the energy created by people coming together also
provided a platform for persons with disabilities to participate and
demonstrate to everyone that they are just differently-abled. So I would
say it was the Peoples Movement that provided the platform for the
differently-abled to contribute and inspire the village – Svati
Chakravarthy Bhatkal, Head, Social Media, Paani Foundation

Making of a water revolution

To incentivise the program there is a competition held called Satyamev
Jayate Water Cup, where villages compete to win prizes for the
best project in watershed management.

From 116 villages in 2016, when the initiative was launched, the number of
villages jumped to 1,300 in 2017. Evidence of its huge popularity, driven in
large measure by Khan’s popularity and close involvement in the movement.

Many people with disabilities came forward for the residential
training in the second year, with each and every one participating in
full enthusiasm.

This included even the shramdaan, or volunteer labour, which requires
all villagers to pitch in for some tough, backbreaking work on the fields.
The enthusiasm shown by the disabled people was a game changer, believes
Training Head Lancy Fernandes.

As fractured communities started coming together.. it unleashed an energy
which villages had never experienced before. It was this energy that
created a platform for people with disabilities to take part in
shramdaan and even the planning and management of the work. Like any
member of the community they responded to the social challenge of making
the village drought-free. Their very presence at shramdaan sites was
an inspiration to all, especially those who were abled and did not
volunteer for it – Lancy Fernandes, Training Head, Paani Foundation

An initiative that was started to address a social problem is enabling
greater integration of disabled people within the community and giving them
the opportunity to discover and showcase their skills. This water revolution
is truly helping to break myths and change attitudes towards disability.

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Hi, I’m Bhavna Sharma. An Inclusion Strategist with Newz Hook. Yes, I am a person with disability. But that doesn’t define who I am. I am a youth, a woman and also the 1st Miss Disability of India 2013. I wanted to achieve something in life and I have been working for the last 9 years. I have recently completed my MBA in Human Resources because I want to grow. I am like every other young person in India. I want a good education, a good job and I want to help my family financially. So you can see I am like everyone else, yet people see me differently.

Here is the Ask Bhavna column for you where I would like to talk to you about the law, society and people’s attitudes and how we can build inclusion in India together.

So, if you have a question about any issue related to disability, bring them out and I can try to answer them? It could be a question relating to a policy or of a personal nature. Well, this is your space to find the answers!